For most, Black Friday and end-of-year sales are far from the mind in July.
But many retailers are already preparing for the busy shopping season.
With this in mind, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has warned businesses not to mislead consumers with bogus discounts.
It comes as new rules were introduced last year on price reductions.
By law, when cutting prices, businesses must now display the lowest price a product was on sale for in the last 30 days, and base the discount on this price alone.
However, the CCPC, which is the enforcement body for these and other consumer protection laws, has found that traders frequently did not display this price.
"Our analysis has shown a number of concerning pricing practices and demonstrated that a number of traders had not yet changed their practices around price reduction announcements following the introduction of the new rules last year," said Kevin O'Brien, CCPC Member.
It found that some businesses were using a higher price which never applied to the product, while others were displaying a recommended retail price only.
The CCPC is reminding businesses that it is an offence to breach these regulations, and warned that businesses could face fines of up to €5,000.
"If we find any offers which mislead consumers, we will be engaging with businesses and taking enforcement action where necessary," Mr O'Brien of the CCPC said.
He said businesses have had "ample opportunity to get their house in order" since the regulations came into force last November.
Up until now, the CCPC has been engaging with businesses to inform them of their new obligations.
But now, it said the engagement phase is over.
"Our market monitoring is ongoing and we will be particularly active in the coming months as we build towards the busiest shopping months of the year," Mr O'Brien said.
Businesses and consumers can find out more about the new regulations online at ccpc.ie/reductions.
